The thoughts and experiences of a man who enjoys challenging arts, unplanned wanderings and intelligent conversations.

9 July 2010

Butterflies at Kew

Any excuse to go to Kew Gardens is a good excuse but exotic butterflies is a rather good one.

A home for them was made at one end of the jagged complex of glass and white steel that some call the Diana Conservatory.

The greenhouse, for that's what it is, has a number of zones that have the feel of being constructed out of the bits of Lego that you have left over after you've built the Millennium Falcon by somebody who has a perverse hatred for order and symmetry.

That's why I love it.

Our butterflies have become rarer over the years so to enter a room thick with them was something of a shock. As was being buzzed by some as big as bats. As also was the bright colours that so few of our native species aspire too.

Most of the butterflies fluttered by incessantly but just a few were kind enough to settle for a while and to pose elegantly for the main keen photographers who braved the unnaturally temperate climate for the opportunity to do.